December 6, 2010 6:56 pm

Editor’s note: Brian McIntyre regularly covers the Seattle Seahawks and the rest of the NFL on his own football blog, and has graciously agreed to provide his weekly personnel files on the Seahawks here each week. We welcome him to Seahawks Insider.

Brian McIntyre blogs daily at Mac’s Football Blog. You can follow Brian on Twitter, and if you’d like to e-mail him, you can always do so by clicking here.

Offensive Personnel Groupings

Including kneel-downs and excluding penalties, the Seattle Seahawks ran 64 offensive plays out of six personnel groupings on Sunday.

Group

Name

Pass

Run

Total

Pass%

Run%

1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE

“11”

12

6

18

66.7%

33.3%

2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE

“21”

7

10

17

41.2%

58.8%

2 RB, 3 WR

“20”

4

7

11

36.4%

63.6%

1 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE

“12”

8

4

12

66.7%

33.3%

2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE

“22”

2

1

3

66.7%

33.3%

2 RB, 3 TE

“23”

0

3

3

0.0%

100.0%

Total

33

31

64

51.6%

48.4%

Seahawks Passing on Sunday (By Personnel Grouping)

Hasselbeck

Com

Att

%

Yards

LG

TD

INT

Sacks

Sack Yd

Rating

“11”

5

11

45.5%

102

36

0

0

1

-5

78.6

“12”

5

8

62.5%

42

17

0

0

0

0

76.0

“20”

3

4

75.0%

39

17

0

0

0

0

105.2

“21”

4

6

66.7%

46

0

0

2

1

-7

49.9

“22”

0

1

0.0%

0

0

0

0

0

0

39.6

Total

17

30

56.7%

229

36

0

2

2

-12

53.3

Seattle ran a half-back pass out of “22” personnel, with running back Leon Washington taking a sack for a loss of seven yards.

Seahawks Rushing on Sunday (By Personnel Grouping)

Group

Att

Yds

Avg

LG

TD

“11”

6

34

5.7

19

0

“12”

4

34

8.5

31

0

“20”

7

49

7.0

14

0

“21”

10

42

4.2

22

1

“22”

1

-1

-1.0

-1

0

“23”

3

3

1.0

1

2

Total

31

161

5.2

31

3

Minus the kneel-down, which was in “22” personnel, the Seahawks had 10 carries for 68 yards (6.8 ypc) out of one-back sets, and 20 carries for 94 yards (4.7 ypc) and three touchdowns out of a true two-back set.

With a fullback in front of him, Lynch carried the ball 16 times for 74 yards and 3 touchdowns. Lynch had five carries for 9 yards as the single back. Forsett had 5 carries for 59 yards as the single back, and one carry for one yard out of a two-back set.

Leon Washington’s two carries for five yards were both misdirection plays that helped set up Michael Robinson’s 14-yard gain on a fullback give. Hasselbeck faked a misdirection toss to Washington, who had drawn the attention of two Carolina defenders in the same lane Robinson was running through.Snap Counts (Offense)

Player

Plays

Total

%

6-C.Whitehurst

0

64

0.0%

7-J.Losman

0

64

0.0%

8-M.Hasselbeck

64

64

100.0%

11-D.Butler

54

64

84.4%

15-B.Stokley

31

64

48.4%

17-M.Williams

3

64

4.7%

20-J.Forsett

21

64

32.8%

24-M.Lynch

39

64

60.9%

26-M.Robinson

33

64

51.6%

33-L.Washington

5

64

7.8%

63-C.White

3

64

4.7%

64-M.Gibson

64

64

100.0%

65-C.Spencer

64

64

100.0%

75-S.Locklear

64

64

100.0%

76-R.Okung

64

64

100.0%

77-S.Andrews

64

64

100.0%

78-T.Polumbus

0

64

0.0%

81-G.Tate

39

64

60.9%

86-C.Baker

30

64

46.9%

87-B.Obomanu

21

64

32.8%

88-C.Morrah

41

64

64.1%

– 17 of Forsett’s 21 snaps were as the single-back in Seattle’s 3-WR sets.

– Lynch was the tailback in 15 of the 17 plays Seattle ran out of “21” personnel, with Forsett and Washington picking up a snap each.

– Three of Washington’s five snaps were in “20” personnel.

– Williams and Obomanu’s injuries opened the door for Butler to lead the receivers in playing-time on Sunday. Butler’s 54 snaps were his second-highest total of the season, and most since logging 64 snaps against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6.

– 29 of Stokley’s 31 snaps were in 3-WR personnel groupings.

– Tate’s 39 snaps were the most the second-round pick has played in one game this season.

– With Carlson out, Baker logged 30 snaps, slightly more than he had been playing throughout the season (24.0 per game through 11 games)

– Morrah’s 41 on Sunday snaps were more than he had played in the first 11 games combined (39), and nearly matched his career total (44) headed into Sunday. On the 35 snaps where Seattle just used one tight end, Morrah (23) was used more frequently than Baker (12). Of the 15 snaps out of 2-TE sets, Morrah was split wide on 9 plays, including 8 of 12 plays run out of “12” personnel.

– Back-up center/guard Chris White served as a third tight end on short-yardage plays.

– Seattle’s starting offensive line of Russell Okung, Mike Gibson, Chris Spencer, Stacy Andrews, and Sean Locklear played all 64 snaps on Sunday. This combination now has the second-longest tenure (117 snaps) of the 10 different line combinations used this season.Defensive Personnel Groupings

Excluding penalties, the Seahawks’ defense was on the field for 67 plays on Sunday.

Package

Pass

Run

Total

Pass%

Run%

Base

19

24

43

44.2%

55.8%

Nickel

1

0

1

100.0%

0.0%

Dime

13

4

17

76.5%

23.5%

Bandit

3

1

4

75.0%

25.0%

5*3*3

1

1

2

50.0%

50.0%

Total

37

30

67

55.2%

44.8%

Against Seattle’s base defense, the Panthers had 24 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns, with Jimmy Clausen completing 10-of-19 pass attempts for 104 yards…Seattle’s dime defense gave up 26 yards on 4 carries, and Clausen completed 7-of-11 pass attempts for 61 yards, with Seattle picking up two sacks, one by Chris Clemons and Raheem Brock’s sack at the end of the first half.

Brock’s second sack of Clausen was out of Seattle’s “Bandit” package, which limited Clausen to 1-of-2 passing for 4 yards. The aborted snap on a 3rd-and-8 in the first quarter occurred when Seattle was in “Bandit”, which is officially recorded as a run for no gain.

Clausen went 0-for-1 against Seattle’s nickel defense.

In Seattle’s short-yardage defense, which has five defensive linemen, three linebackers, and three defensive backs, the Panthers had a three-yard run on 3rd-and-1 with Lofa Tatupu’s pick-six coming on the other play.Defensive Player Snap Count

Player

Plays

Total

%

21-K.Jennings

59

67

88.1%

23-M.Trufant

67

67

100.0%

27-J.Babineaux

26

67

38.8%

28-W.Thurmond

19

67

28.4%

29-E.Thomas

67

67

100.0%

31-K.Chancellor

4

67

6.0%

34.R.Lewis

6

67

9.0%

36-L.Milloy

65

67

97.0%

39-K.Cox

0

67

0.0%

51-L.Tatupu

55

67

82.1%

52-M.McCoy

0

67

0.0%

54-W.Herring

4

67

6.0%

57-D.Hawthorne

54

67

80.6%

58-D.Davis

0

67

0.0%

59-A.Curry

47

67

70.1%

91-C.Clemons

57

67

85.1%

92-B.Mebane

59

67

88.1%

93-C.Terrill

14

67

20.9%

94-J.Siavii

41

67

61.2%

95-K.Balmer

37

67

55.2%

98-R.Brock

30

67

44.8%

99-J.Richardson

26

67

38.8%

– Jennings was frequently targeted by Clausen, with six of the Panthers’ first ten pass attempts thrown to receivers Jennings was covering. Clausen completed 4 of those 6 attempts for 43 yards and 4 first downs. Jennings was replaced by Walter Thurmond for a few snaps, and his play improved in the second half.

– Trufant logged every snap for the fifth time this season.

– Babineaux played in the slot in nickel, dime, and “Bandit”, was the third defensive back in Seattle’s short-yardage defense, and played cornerback in a “heavy” base package in short-yardage situations.

– Thurmond picked up four snaps in base defense, and 15 snaps in the slot in dime and “Bandit” in place of Roy Lewis.

– Thomas had 100% playing-time for the 11th time in 12 games.

– Chancellor’s snaps were relegated to “Bandit”.

– Lewis played in “Bandit” and dime before exiting with a knee injury.

– Milloy came off the field during the two short-yardage plays.

– After playing the first 51 snaps, Tatupu was replaced at middle linebacker in base defense by David Hawthorne in the fourth quarter, but played in dime and “Bandit” defense before giving way to Hawthorne altogether.

– Herring played three snaps in base defense and one snap in nickel during the fourth quarter.

– Hawthorne played all but 7 snaps in dime and the four “Bandit’ snaps.

– Curry played linebacker in base and short-yardage defense, and defensive tackle in two snaps in dime. Carolina converted on 3rd-and-8 running at Curry, after which, the 254-pound linebacker was replaced by the 280-pound Jay Richardson in dime situations.

– Clemons was the “Leo” on 35 of 43 plays Seattle used its base defense, and played every other snap minus the two short-yardage situations.

– Mebane played all but 7 snaps in base and one snap in dime.

– Terrill played 11 snaps in base, 2 snaps in short-yardage, and one snap in dime.

– Siavii’s snaps were in base (39) or short-yardage (2).

– Balmer played the “5” technique on 35 of 43 base defense snaps, 31 of which he was paired with Clemons.

– Brock played the “Leo” on 8 snaps, and was the pass-rushing end in dime, nickel, and Bandit packages.

– Richardson played the “5” technique on 8 snaps, was the defensive tackle on 16 snaps, and was a defensive end in short-yardage defense on two snaps.

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About

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

Feeds

These defensive alignments are a bit confusing. If Balmer played 5 tech 35 times and was paired with Clemons on 31 of those, that means Clemons was the DE at 7 tech and Balmer DT. This means that Mebane must have been at NT (in Cole’s place) and Siavii at DE on the strong side (as I never saw ‘Bane at end). I’m going to re-watch the game tonight and check this for myself. Either I’m not understanding this breakdown correctly or the formations were responsible for their inability to stop the run (at least until Seattle took the lead). That alignment would leave a gaping hole off the weak side.

I suspect that Balmer was actually at 3 tech when paired with Clemons, but I’ll have to double check this for myself. If however this is right, and Balmer was at 5 tech and Clemons outside that, Quinn needs a swift kick in the ass because that is a horrid use of personnel.

klm – At no point did Seattle run a Lynch / Forsett backfield. Out of 35 total two back formations; Lynch / Robinson accounted for 27 sets. Forsett / Robinson 3 (one of which was the kneel down at the end of the game). Washington / Robinson 4. And 1 Forsett / Washington pro set formation.

Additionally; they used 2 back sets 17 times on first down (16 on first and ten, once on 1st and goal) 3 times on second and ten and 1 time on third and ten.

In short yardage situations (3 yards or less) they ran 2 back sets 7 times (including 4 goal-to-go short yardage)

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